Was That The Bottom?

After an amazing, nearly 700 point drop in the Dow, then a rally back into positive territory, it certainly had the FEEL of some kind of selling climax.

Throughout the morning, much more volume has been going to stocks on the upside than downside. But trader after trader said to me that that this is an environment in which picking a bottom has resulted in nothing besides further losses. So let's let it be for the moment.

What matters most is when we are going to see real buying; until we do, moving sideways does not have the feel of sustainability.

There are many positives today, particularly that our parent GEsaid the corporate paper market was improving.

There are negatives as well. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley continue to trade poorly, and the entire energy complex (equities and commodities) continues to be sold aggressively. In fact, energy stocks as a group are the worst performers this month, down 33 percent; financials are down 32 percent.